Red Dead Redemption Preview #2
Red Dead Redemption Preview
By Gaetano Prestia
Set during a time of extreme change at the start of the 20th century, Red Dead Redemption is more than just your typical sequel. We mentioned that with our preview earlier this year, but after having seen the title in action in a little more depth, it’s obvious from the get-go that this Wild West adventure is ready for one hell of a gunfight. Not only will it be packing heat in the form of the narrative-driven missions that form the main part of the story, but Rockstar have expanded the basic foundations of what makes a free-roaming title as player-driven as possible. Within the vast plains that seemingly go on forever is an interactive world, one that is completely random and bustling with life – both wild and tamed.
Redemption takes place at the start of the 20th Century as technology is starting to seep in through society. Our main protagonist is John Marston, a former outlaw who has since given up his life of crime to start a small family. The game will begin in an area called the “Frontier” and progression through the map will be like that of earlier Rockstar free-roaming titles. You won’t be able to ride all over the large map right from the beginning, as a mission-progression system will be in place for you to unlock other areas of the large world. You’ll travel right through the West up towards the North Eastern plains, as well as down south towards Mexico and its sand-infested environments.
What really seems to distance this title from its predecessor is that it expands on the experience in a particular way, going beyond the main story quite aggressively to offer plenty of different encounters and side adventures. As you move through the world with Marston, you encounter the most random of events, as the world isn’t directly influenced by your presence. You can be strolling through the desert on your trusty horse and see a hanging occurring in the distance. You might even see a robbery taking place on a stagecoach. Seeing these things happening is one thing, but being able to actually get involved is another. You can choose sides, help whomever you want to help and define your character within the world. You can be a dirty thug that helps thugs escape police custody, or you can save a lone woman from getting robbed by a bunch of merciless crooks. The world is Marston’s home, so Rockstar have really made it so you can be as active within it as possible.
There are also plenty of activities and quests to take part in, most of which can be found scattered throughout the many towns across the world. In the small town of Chuparosa for example, a wanted poster had been stapled to the wall of the Sheriff’s office. You can accept a bounty to catch a wanted criminal and the reward amount will depend on whether you return them dead or alive. Once you accept the bounty, the last known location of the crook appears on the map. You can either kill the criminal and bring back proof of their death, or lasso them up and drag them back into town.
All of these side activities can be done at your own discretion, so there’s no real time limit or restriction on which order you do them in. For example, you can come across a treasure map (of which can be found in a variety of places, including shops) and search for hidden treasure while on your way to find a wanted criminal. The treasure can be anything from guns to gold or cash and even items that are important to characters you’ve met through the adventure.
Aspects of the experience like these really help define the title and environment, which is great. There also seems to be a lot of variety in the different activities you can do between missions, as well as within the individual missions themselves. For example, each of the Wanted missions is distinctively different from one another, so you won’t be headed to the same location over and over again. Furthermore, they really help give the game a bit of personality. The wanted criminals for example give it that sense that it’s wild and dangerous and that criminals can be anyone within the world, whereas the treasure gives that sense of adventure and exploration and really gives you a chance to explore parts of the environments you wouldn’t normally see.
As this is a free-roaming title, you are free to act as you wish. So, if you want to go all guns blazing in a town to take out innocent civilians and lawmen, you can. However, it won’t go unpunished. There’s a wanted system implemented into the world, and thankfully it works very well to fit in with the era. As opposed to simply having a wanted system that deteriorates over time, whenever you commit a bad act, the word “Wanted” appears in red at the top of the screen. A red radius on the main mini-map will also surround you. Once you escape the red radius, the red will drain from the “Wanted” sign, but you’ll still have a bounty on your head. While you’re wanted in a particular town, you’ll have bounty hunters and lawmen coming after you all throughout the world. If the bounty gets high enough, you’ll barely be able to walk without having someone trying to take you down. The only way to rid John of this terrible burden is to either pay off the bounty yourself, or receive a letter of pardon by committing a good deed. Once you receive that letter, you’ll have to return it to the town you’re wanted in.
The wanted system seems to work really, really well. It doesn’t punish you immensely for your actions, as a small bounty over your head won’t give you much trouble, especially if you repay it quickly. However, work the bounty up and you could be in some trouble. The sense of currency in the game is very intone with how it was during that era, so having a bounty of $1000 on your head is going to set you back a lot – you don’t want to be parting with that sort of money in this world, especially considering how much you can buy with it.
Your actions heavily influence how people in the world respond to John. Each act you commit, whether bad or good, will have an affect on John’s Honour and Fame characteristics. The intriguing thing about this system is that you can have just as much Honour and Fame from committing crimes as you can from committing good deeds. For example, if John commits several good deeds of extreme nature (saving a town being overrun by criminals, for example), his Honour and Fame will go up. In turn, people will treat him better. However, if he commits several aggressive crimes, while both his Honour and Fame will increase as well, the response from people will be different – they’ll either be so scared so as to offer their services for nothing, or they’ll just completely ignore him and put their chin up at him.
This is undoubtedly the Wild West, and Red Dead Redemption doesn’t hold back when it comes to action. One mission in particular has you ramming a fort with a horse cart filled with explosives, before finding several ammo crates scattered inside. Once they’ve been recovered, John must protect the front gates from oncoming soldiers by using a devastating mounted cannon that can take out several horse-drawn carts at once without trouble.
We saw several other missions in the earlier preview and along with this one, all of them were explosive and action-packed. While there is sure to be some transportation and character-driven missions throughout the game, Rockstar seem to have created a world filled with enough crazy characters and devastating weaponry to crank up the action.
There has been a very strong focus on the weapons available in Redemption, with every single gun and melee weapon based completely on those from the era. There won’t be any rocket launchers or automatic shotguns with grenade launchers, but there will be aggressive shotguns, long-range sniper-rifles and the random mounted cannon.
The Rockstar Advanced Game Engine has helped refine the environments and landscapes, coupled with the Euphoria physics engine to help the world move realistically. The world looks absolutely stunning, sometimes more so at particular times of the day. The weather cycle seems to have been improved since the last time we saw the game in action, with transitions from night and day resulting in beautiful lighting effects, with the rising and setting sun bouncing off the landscape. Moving through the desert as the sun sets at dusk looks quite amazing and even though it’s small when put into context, it’s another aspect that gives the game a bit of personality. Even when you’re not undertaking a task or mission, roaming around the world seems to be a pleasure in itself because it’s so beautiful and inviting.
It’s great to know that Redemption is going to be set in such a lively world. It’s incredibly vast, but it’s far from empty. There’s going to be so much to do outside of the main missions, which will really encourage you to explore the gorgeous world. There’s plenty of random acts occurring all the time in any of the three main areas, and the ability to interfere and influence how John is perceived by the world gives the game a lot of player-driven initiative, which is fantastic.
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